Hurricane Filner blew into City Hall last December with a spinning flurry of pledges. Now he’s leaving as, at best, a tropical depression.
So how’d he do at keeping his keeping his promises? We took a look and determined he was actually able to keep several important promises during his shortened term and start work on several others, but several never came near reality.
The Rest of the Day in Filner
• A U-T San Diego reporter spotted Mayor Filner at City Hall yesterday looking casual but still relying on his security detail. Filner reportedly wanted an extra week as mayor and didn’t resign after his resignation speech on Friday. What’s he up to, if anything?
• More legal trouble for Filner: Through an attorney, an unnamed domestic violence advocate says the mayor kissed her on the face and groped at her chest in front of witnesses, the U-T reports. The attorney, who spoke for another alleged Filner victim earlier this week, hasn’t filed a claim with the city yet.
The Rest of the Day in Post-Filner
• The latest edition of VOSD Radio ponders what’s next or the city: Who’s going to run for mayor? Will the progressive dream die?
The voices of VOSD also name the Hero of the Week (a woman who stood up for herself and others) and the Goat of the Week (a local TV station that disgraced itself by refusing to let what happens in Vegas stay in Vegas).
• The U-T reports on the prospects for a mayoral campaign by former state legislator Lori Saldaña, while KPBS talks to Rep. Susan Davis about Council President Todd Gloria, her former congressional staffer and another possible mayoral contender. Spoiler alert: She thinks he’s just great.
The conventional wisdom believed Gloria would run to replace Davis whenever she retires, but the opening for mayor offers him another route to move up.
• Carl DeMaio, who said he’s in a “damned if I do, damned if I don’t” situation when it comes to responding to a report he masturbated in a city bathroom while he was a city councilman, strongly denounced the story in an interview with NBC 7’s Gene Cubbison. DeMaio even went a step further: He willingly took a lie detector test he says proves he’s telling the truth and that the incident never happened.
When the Bullies Run the Classroom
Bullying is getting plenty of attention these days, and not just at City Hall. Neighborhood schools continue to focus on ways to prevent students from abusing each other. But what about when the bully is an adult?
Parents met with education and law enforcement officials last week “to discuss ways they could work together to close gaps in the system that allow abuse to go unpunished,” VOSD education blogger Christie Ritter reports.
Councilwoman Emerald: Invest in Fire-Rescue
In a commentary, Councilwoman Marti Emerald writes that the City Council is committed to a project to strengthen the city’s fire and medical emergency services. “The cornerstone of our plan is building the 20 fire stations this city so desperately needs; a $100-million-dollar effort beginning with the Home Avenue, Skyline and College Area stations, which are located in the busiest, highest-density neighborhoods in San Diego.”
Emerald’s right about the need for fire stations: Some of the neighborhoods with not-yet-built stations have the highest risk of emergency responders showing up late.
In La Mesa, Local News Drew Raves and Raspberries
Patch.com, a national network of hundreds of “hyperlocal” news sites, brought neighborhood news to a La Mesa community that embraced a chance to see itself, former editor Ken Stone writes in a revealing commentary for VOSD.
Stone, who was just laid off during a massive Patch.com downsizing, and colleagues provided a level of local news coverage that shocked, thrilled and even dismayed La Mesa residents. “I was accused of ‘stirring the pot,’ ‘yellow journalism’ and making Patch ‘a tabloid media source,’” he recalls.
At the same time, the site provided news that could be found nowhere else. “I also was awed how my town of 60,000 was famished for local insight. They devoured our graduation galleries. They feasted on our football game photos. They wanted to know: Why is the sheriff’s helicopter flying over my house? What caused that traffic jam? Where is that billowing smoke coming from?”
Quick News Hits
• VOSD’s Culture Report this week is Seussian, theatrical, jazzy and even a bit abs-y.
• The Morning Report is still on the lookout for photos that show San Diego and its people at their best. No reason or anything. It’s not like we’re going through a spot of bother. (OK, we are.)
We’ll let ABC News summarize this one via its headline: “Heartwarming Photo of Wife Carrying Double-Amputee Marine Husband Goes Viral.”
Click here to see the photo, of a San Diego couple. Start early and avoid the rush: Pre-moisten your eyes right now.
Randy Dotinga is a freelance contributor to Voice of San Diego and vice president of the American Society of Journalists & Authors. Please contact him directly at randydotinga@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/rdotinga.
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